MANILA, Philippines — Pasig City pulled away in the third quarter and subdued Marikina, 92-80, on Tuesday in the SportsPlus MPBL (Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League) 2026 Season at the Batangas City Coliseum.
Triples by Jhapz Bautista and John Felix Corpuz sandwiched a 15-4 run that pushed the Pasiguenos ahead, 69-48, en route to their 11th win in 22 starts lin the two-division, 26-team tournament.
Pasig is lodged at 7th in the North division, assuring them of a stint in the play-in among teams ranked 7th to 10th after the single round-robin eliminations. The top six advances outright to the quarterfinal playoffs.
Jacob Galicia paced Pasig with 22 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks, but yielded the SportsPlus best player accolade to homegrown Jerome Garcia, with 16 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds.
Warlo Batac also shone for Pasig with 17 points, 7 assists, 4 steals and 6 rebounds, followed by Bautista with 14 points, 6 steals, 5 assists and 4 rebounds, and Corpuz, with 11 points and 4 rebounds.
The Pasiguenos converted 7 of 24 triple attempts for 29.2 percent, which turned out to be the big difference as the Shoemasters could only nail 1 of 13 for 7.7 percent.
The taller Shoemasters dominated the boards, 57-46, but fell short in the steals department, 6-15.
Marikina bowed out of playoff contention with a 7-17 slate despite Eroll Soriano's 23 points and 12 rebounds, JR Alabanza's 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks, and Gjerald Wilson's 12 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds.
The tournament returns to the Paco Arena in Manila on Thursday, featuring games between Imus and also-ran Negros at 3 p.m., Ilagan Isabela and Abra at 5 p.m., and Batangas and Manila at 7 p.m. TMT
